


Healthy Disagreement

by telperion_15



Category: Primeval
Genre: Arguing, Criticism, Established Relationship, M/M, Makeup Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-02
Updated: 2012-02-02
Packaged: 2017-10-30 12:41:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/331843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/telperion_15/pseuds/telperion_15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick and Ryan clash while out in the field.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Healthy Disagreement

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written as a birthday fic for bigtitch.
> 
> Thanks to fififolle for the beta.

  
“I bloody well know what I’m talking about, Captain!” Nick stood toe to toe with Ryan, for once refusing to be intimidated by the soldier’s implacable stare and the automatic rifle slung across his chest. “Killing the creatures is completely unnecessary.”  
  
“I know what I saw, Professor,” Ryan snapped back. “I may not be a dinosaur expert, but even I can recognise the danger those animals pose if they get anywhere near the public. And I can’t let that happen.”  
  
“There’s no one around for miles,” Nick blustered. “There’s no chance of them running across anyone.”  
  
“Know that for certain, do you? Willing to take the risk of someone getting hurt? Or even killed?”  
  
“No one will get hurt! There’s no one here except us. Abby and Stephen are perfectly capable of tracking down the raptors and darting them with tranquilliser. Then we can get them home safely. No killing necessary.”  
  
“And what if they miss? Or one of the raptors gets the drop on them?”  
  
“Well, it’s your job to see that doesn’t happen. _That’s_ what you and your men are here for, not to go on a shooting spree.”  
  
Ryan’s eyes narrowed then, and Nick suddenly got the uncomfortable feeling that he’d gone too far. But he wasn’t going to back down over this. Not even if it got him another punch in the face.  
  
“That just proves that you don’t have the first clue about how me and my men operate,” Ryan said, his voice icy calm. “No doubt you think you’re the brains of this operation, and we’re just the hired muscle. But I can assure you that each and every one of my men is more than capable of making the right decision in a situation like this. And that includes when and when _not_ to kill.”  
  
“I…I didn’t mean…”  
  
“Yes, you did,” said Ryan, his tone leaving no room for argument. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some tracking parties to organise. Send Stephen and Abby over when they’re kitted up.”  
  
And then he was walking away, leaving Nick gaping in his wake.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Nick heard the key in the lock, the opening of the front door, and the soft footsteps padding down the hall, but he didn’t look up from his newspaper. He could sense the presence in the living room doorway, but he didn’t turn around. Truthfully, he was afraid to. He had no idea what the reaction would be.  
  
The voice that spoke from behind him only confirmed that fear. “The hired muscle’s home.” But far from being couched as a joke, the words were flat and cold, and Nick squirmed as he wondered how he’d let things go so far. He wished he could take back some of the things he’d said earlier that day, but he didn’t know how to begin.  
  
Then Ryan sighed, and Nick heard footsteps again as he circled the sofa and dropped into an armchair opposite.  
  
Nick was startled. His lover looked wrecked. Surely he hadn’t looked that bad when they’d parted at the anomaly site, Nick returning to the Home Office while Ryan and his men went back to base?  
  
He tried to remember if anything had happened that day that could prompt such a look. Apart from their argument, of course. Then he recalled the soldier being bundled into the back of one of the vehicles and rushed to hospital, blood from the nasty gash on his thigh soaking through his BDUs, his face pale and his breathing harsh.  
  
Ryan had been right about one thing, after all. The raptors had got the drop on them.  
  
“How’s…?” he started to ask, and then realised he didn’t know the injured soldier’s name.  
  
“Bradshaw?” Ryan scrubbed a hand across his tired face. “He’ll be all right. Although he won’t be putting much weight on that leg for at least a month.”  
  
“I’m sorry,” Nick said awkwardly. “You know…you know I never wanted anything like that to happen, right?”  
  
Ryan’s eyes remained covered by his hand for a few more seconds, and then he sighed again and looked directly Nick. “Of course you didn’t,” he said. “I know that. But can’t you see that I was right to be concerned about those creatures? They’re dangerous, and sometimes that means we have to take drastic action.”  
  
“But you didn’t today,” Nick pointed out. “Even though they’d injured one of your men.” Stephen and Abby had come through for him, finding and darting all three raptors so they could be sent back through the anomaly with nothing worse than a headache to look forward to when they woke up.  
  
“No, we didn’t,” Ryan agreed. “And believe it or not, that is the outcome I’d prefer every time. We don’t _like_ killing, Nick. We just accept that sometimes it’s necessary. And you need to accept that too. Otherwise one day your stubbornness is going to get _you_ killed.”  
  
Nick looked at Ryan in surprise. The soldier’s voice was serious, and his face was expressionless. But he was sure he hadn’t imagined the flash of worry he’d seen in Ryan’s eyes, and unexpectedly he felt warmed.  
  
“You’re right, of course,” he said, suddenly less bothered about admitting defeat. “It’s just, I wish…” He trailed off, afraid that he was veering too close to idealism again.  
  
“You wish what?” Ryan asked, sounding genuinely curious.  
  
“Well, I just wish we didn’t have to treat these creatures like a menace all the time,” Nick admitted. Then he held up a hand to stall the exasperated protest he could see forming on Ryan’s lips. “Don’t get me wrong, I know they’re dangerous, and I still know you’re right about how we might have to deal with them sometimes, much as I hate it. It’s just…the anomalies and the creatures that come through them are wonders, Ryan. No one’s ever seen the like of them before. I wish we had the time and the chance to appreciate that and study them, instead of automatically viewing them as a danger and a problem.”  
  
He shrugged helplessly, and was then surprised anew when Ryan smiled suddenly and stood, crossing the room to sit next to him on the sofa.  
  
“I’m sure you’ll get the opportunity one day, Nick,” he said. “We’re just reacting at the moment, trying to stop people getting hurt and prevent mass panic. But I’m sure there'll come a time when we’ll have this under control. I have faith you’ll work out how to do that.”  
  
“Oh god, no pressure!” Nick replied, and Ryan chuckled a little.  
  
“Sorry. But I’m sure with the right motivation you can do it.”  
  
“The right motivation, you say?” Nick said, sending his lover a tentative but inviting look.  
  
Ryan laughed again. “I was talking about your desire to study and learn,” he said. “But anything I can do to help you on your way…” He leaned forward and kissed Nick. “Let’s go to bed. It’s been a shit of a day and I need to forget.”  
  
Nick nodded, relief flooding through him as he thought about how close he’d come to screwing things up. “I’m sorry about some of the things I said earlier,” he offered. “You know I have the utmost respect for you and your men.”  
  
“I know,” Ryan replied. He stood again and held out a hand, pulling Nick up with him. “Come on.”  
  
Nick willingly let himself be led to the bedroom, where they both removed their clothes quickly and silently. Getting on the bed, he rolled on to his stomach, offering himself to Ryan. They were both tired, but he knew Ryan needed this. _He_ needed this.  
  
Ryan’s slick fingers prepared him thoroughly and efficiently, and then he felt Ryan’s hands on his hips pulling him to his knees. They groaned in tandem as Ryan pressed into him in one long thrust, and then almost immediately he felt Ryan begin to thrust, driving himself into Nick’s body in a way that left Nick in no doubt that he was trying to chase away some of the day’s demons. He gave himself up to it, enjoying Ryan’s firm grip on him, the slap of skin on skin, the grunts Ryan emitted as he slammed into Nick.  
  
It was all too short a time before he felt Ryan’s rhythm falter, and then his lover was coming hard, cursing quietly as he emptied himself into Nick’s body.  
  
There were a couple of moments of silence, and then Ryan said softly, “Sorry.”  
  
“No apologies necessary,” Nick replied. “You needed that.”  
  
“Yes,” Ryan agreed. “I did.”  
  
He pulled out, and then turned Nick over gently, raising an eyebrow when he saw Nick was still hard. “Need a hand with that?”  
  
“I wouldn’t say no.”  
  
A few twisting strokes were all that was required before Nick was coming over Ryan’s hand and his own torso, muttering Ryan’s name as he shuddered. He let Ryan grab a few tissues and clean him up, and then pulled him in for a quick hard kiss, a promise of better behaviour in the future.  
  
Ryan apparently understood the gesture, because he smiled and nodded, and then they both settled down to sleep.


End file.
